I have a 74 2.3L it has the points type ignition. I was wondering if I could convert it to a electronic distributor?
I was driving the pinto last night down to houston. I could drive a hundred miles just fine. Then it would start missing really bad and bucking. If I would stop for 5 min and unplug everything going to the coil it would be fine for about another 20-30 miles. I have new plugs, wires, points, condesner, coil, cap & rotor. Whats the deal? What should I do?
Thanks Matt
Hello Matt,
First try tightening the condinser.
If it is tight?
Remove the condinser and clean or replace as nessissary.
From Pintony
Ok I checked out that bad boy and its tight. It looks good, but I will buy a new one just incase. There was this brown gunk around this screw thing in the distributor I cleaned it out of there, I dont know if that was a good or bad thing.
I cant go drive it right now. I got class at three but I will test it out when I get back.
But if I could get some more info on a electronic ignition that would be great.
Thanks again
Matt
That could be a coil getting tired, or a starter switch. When an electric item gets weak, it can function at a really low level, and then start missing when it get hot. I had nearly the very same thing happen recently to a jeep.
Did your miss happen after this all started, or before? It's very easy to forget to tighten something when you are in a hurry.
Also, one of my favorite bug-a-boos is a vacuum advance not functioning-test your pull off. Hope this helps--
It it was happening really bad before, but then I put all that stuff new in there and now its good for a little bit like stated. How do I test my pull off?
But most of all is there any way that I could get a dizzy off a 75 pinto with electronic igintion and use that. If I could get rid of this whole points system it would be super sweet.
Yes, you can (if I installed a efi with the full comp. set-up, that surely can be done).
Any 75 thru 80 2.3 should work fine, but get the wire harness from the donor car/engine too if you can, as you will need the "CDI" type box to go with it along with some of the wiring. Get out you manual and compair the harnesses and tie them where needed.
I have installed aftermarket electric ignition systems on older bikes and cars, but never on a pinto. There might be kits out there cheaper and easier then the swap.
I need to ask, if you car cools off, like over night, can you drive a few hundred miles again before this happens again? If so, I agree that it is a connnection issue somewhere. A bad connection will cause heat and sometimes expantion of parts to where they make poor contact (reduce voltage) or no contact at all. Heat = bad, = fire at some point. I had a problem with my gl1000. Someone had replaced the main fuse holder with one that was not rated for the amps going thru it. Sometimes it would get hot to the point of melting and dissconect the fuse, and the bike would die. I would tinker with it a while and it would fire up again after it cooled. Drove me nuts (sorry) for a while till I found it (by burning myself on it).
Bill
I had a similar situation with my 73 2.0 when i first got it. It would run fine until it warmed up, then the ignition would start cutting in and out. At one point it caused a nice backfire that busted the seam on my muffer.
Anyway, the problem for me turned out to be corrosion between the wire and its crimped connection on the points. I tried soldering it, but it didn't fix the problem. Finaly bought a set of points from advance autopars for somethin like $3 and beleive it or not, they were in stock. They must be interchangeable with other fords.
Dunno if thats your problem or not, but you may wanna check that too.
-Harry
To check your distributer /vacuum advance, pull off- you must use a vacuum tester, connected to the pull off via vac hose, or attach a vac hose toe the port connection , then with your lips,zoop on the hose, watching to see if anything moves in the distributer. When it works, you will see movement in the distributer and hear it. If nothing happens, you have a bad vac advance--cheap to fix, you should probably just replace it to eliminate it as a possible source.
There is a company out there advertizing a complete distributer replacement kit. The company,Pertronix, is found in most parts catalogs--Let us know what you find--